Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 227
company of the Prophet sa and who had repeatedly heard
the Prophet's sa injunctions regarding the treatment of
slaves, has said: "I call God to witness in Whose hands
is my life that were it not for the opportunities that I get
of joining in holy war and of performing the Pilgrimage
and were it not that I have opportunities of serving my
old mother, I would have desired to die a slave, for the
Holy Prophet sa constantly insisted upon slaves being
well and kindly treated" (Muslim). Ma‘rur bin Suwaid ra
relates: "I saw Abu Dharr Ghaffari ra (a Companion ra of
the Holy Prophet sa ) wearing clothes exactly similar to
those worn by his slave. I inquired of him the reason of
this and he said: 'During the lifetime of the Holy
Prophet sa I once taunted a man with his mother having
been a slave. Upon this the Holy Prophet sa rebuked me
and said: "You still seem to entertain pre-Islamic
notions. What are slaves? They are your brethren and
the source of your power. God in His wisdom confers
temporary authority upon you over them. He who has
such authority over his brother should feed him with the
kind of food he himself eats; clothe him with the kind of
clothes he himself wears and should not set him a task
beyond his strength and should himself help him in
whatever he is asked to do".' "On another occasion the
Prophet sa said: "When your servant cooks food for you
and sets it out before you, you should ask him to sit
down with you to eat or at least to partake of a portion
of it in your company, for he has established a right in it
by working on it' (Muslim).
TREATMENT OF WOMEN
The Holy Prophet sa was very keen on improving the
condition of women in society and on securing for them
a position of dignity and fair and equitable treatment.
Islam was the first religion which conferred upon women
the right of inheritance. The Qur’an makes daughters
along with sons heirs to the property left by their